CLEVELAND — Tobias Harris attempted to go through his regular shooting routine Monday night, but he and the Orlando Magic ultimately decided it was best for him to sit out against the Cleveland Cavaliers and give his strained right calf more rest.
“You’ve got to be careful with it,” Harris said. “It feels better from the day it did happen. It’s progressing. I just think right now it’s too early. I thought I’d try to give it a chance. I would play on a little bit of pain, but I just don’t think it’d be right to go out there.”
Harris suffered the injury before last Friday’s win in Charlotte but played anyway. The next night, he sat out the Magic’s loss to the Miami Heat.
“He’s just not ready, and it’s not smart for us to aggravate anything,” coach Jacque Vaughn said Monday. “So we’ll give him another couple of days and see what we look like when we get back home.”
With Harris out, Vaughn employed a starting lineup of Victor Oladipo, Evan Fournier, Maurice Harkless, Channing Frye and Nik Vucevic.
It was Harkless’ first start of the season.
Vucevic’s ‘opportunity’
During his time with the Heat, LeBron James played against the Magic four times a season, so James had a firsthand look at Vucevic’s development.
Vucevic entered Monday averaging 19.4 points and 12.1 rebounds per game.
“It was all about opportunity,” James said. “He got the opportunity when he went to Orlando in the trade with Dwight [Howard], and he’s made the most of it. He’s been a big-time player for that team and has been a double-double threat every night.”
Keeping perspective
The Cavaliers entered Monday with a 5-7 record and a four-game losing streak, creating concern throughout Northeast Ohio and fodder for sports-talk radio stations everywhere.
That wasn’t the scenario anyone envisioned when James rejoined the Cavaliers.
“For me being a leader of the team, if I start hanging my head low, then I think it’s going to go to everyone else,” James said before tipoff.
“They look up to me. They look to me to make a difference, and I’ve got to stay positive even throughout the rough times. Like I said before, this is not the darkest point that we’ll see this year. I’ve seen very dark, and this is very light to me.”
James began the day averaging 24.7 points, 5.9 rebounds and 6.8 assists per game.
But James was blunt when he was asked to assess his own performance.
“We’ve got a four-game losing streak, so I stink,” James said.
Before tipoff, Cavs coach David Blatt voiced his confidence in James.
“LeBron James is the greatest player that I’ve ever coach and I’ve ever seen,” Blatt said.
Minutes watch
As Monday began, Harris averaged 36.6 minutes per game, the ninth-highest figure in the NBA. Vucevic had logged 36.3 minutes per game, the 10th-highest figure in the league.
“We have to be cognizant of it,” Vaughn said.
“But, at the same time, I think early in the year you try to get guys established and getting their legs underneath them. The bad thing is Vic is still trying to get his game legs underneath him and Channing also as far as playing a lot of minutes and being able to do that.”
The Catch
James, who played wide receiver in high school, was asked what he thought of the one-handed 43-yard touchdown reception made Sunday night by the New York Giants’ Odell Beckham Jr.
James answered: “the greatest catch I’ve ever seen.”
jbrobbins@tribune.com. Read his blog at OrlandoSentinel.com/magicblog and follow him on Twitter at @JoshuaBRobbins.
